Upfronts and finales and 'Dutton Ranch': Previewing a hectic week

A lot of season finales are on deck for this week, and there are several high-profile premieres too — including the most direct spinoff of Yellowstone so far. It’s also the week of the upfronts, the annual gathering in New York where big media companies preview their coming attractions for advertisers in hopes of securing billions of dollars of commitments ahead of the next season — or up front.

I’m gonna start with a rundown of who’s presenting when, and a few things to keep an eye out for. And since the end of the traditional TV season is nearly here, finales get the first listings after that. Happy Mother’s Day to all of you, and onward …

Everyone’s spiel to advertisers will almost certainly include a lot of talk about the very specific ways Streamer X’s ad tech can target viewers. They’ll talk about “AI-powered” ad innovations (when they probably mean machine learning) and lean into some trends like bringing YouTube-like tools for creators under their own umbrellas. It’s the part of the week that is very much Not for Public Consumption, but it is the main reason everyone’s gathered in New York. Here’s the schedule.

Monday
• 10:30 a.m. ET: NBCUniversal goes first, which is pretty much always the case for whatever reason. NBC announced four new shows — including a Rockford Files remake starring David Boreanaz — on Friday, so we may get peeks at those during the presentation. Peacock and Bravo will also get a lot of hype. NBC has not yet formally announced that Law & Order will return next season, but it’s a very good bet that it will. Versant, the company that spun off from NBCU last year (and includes USA Network, Syfy, MS Now and other cable channels) will also be part of the deal here, as NBCU is still handling ad sales for those networks.

• 4 p.m.: Fox will spend most of its time playing up its sports division, which has the World Cup coming in June, and Fox News, with some time spent on Tubi and, oh yeah, the Fox broadcast network.

• 6:30 p.m.: Amazon will probably talk sports a good bit as well — I have to admit their NBA telecasts have been pretty solid this year — and tout its upcoming Prime Video shows. I’ve been hearing that Prime is about to order a big new series (which I can’t say anything about yet), and I wonder if they’ll use their time in New York to do so.

Tuesday
• 4 p.m.: Disney has the stage to itself today. The highlight of their presentation most years is Jimmy Kimmel doing several minutes of material in which he makes fun of other companies’ upfronts, his Disney bosses and anything else related to the business (here’s a sampling of what he said last year). Also expect some announcements related to Hulu, Disney+, FX and ESPN.

Wednesday
• 10 a.m.: Warner Bros. Discovery has what might be its last upfront before it becomes part of Paramount, assuming that merger continues as scheduled. On the TV and streaming side, it’ll mostly be about HBO and HBO Max.

• 2 p.m.: Netflix, which would prefer you subscribe to their ad-supported tier, has more subscribers and more programming than any other streaming service, so it can (and probably will) do a lot of bragging. That may not necessarily come with any big announcements, though we’ll see.

• 5:30 p.m.: YouTube wraps things up. It may seem weird to think about it alongside these more traditional media powers, but based on Nielsen figures, people watch YouTube on their TVs more than any other network or streaming service — something like 12 or 13 percent of all TV use in any given month is from YouTube. And even if we’re only half paying attention to the screen while a video podcast or whatever plays, that’s still a ton of potential eyeballs for advertisers.

Keep your eyes on your inboxes this week: On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings I’ll be sending newsletters with the best/worst/most interesting things I saw at each upfront.

Onto what’s actually on your screens this week:

Sunday
• 10 and 10:30 p.m.: Rooster and The Comeback (HBO): I missed these in last week’s listings, but the two comedies wrap their seasons tonight. In The Comeback’s case, it’s a series finale for Valerie Cherish (Lisa Kudrow) and Co.

Monday
• 8 p.m.: American Idol (ABC): This year’s winner gets crowned near the end of the three-hour finale. Remember when we all hung on this show’s every move?
• 8 p.m.: The Neighborhood (CBS): After eight seasons, the comedy starring Cedric the Entertainer, Tichina Arnold, Max Greenfield and Beth Behrs says goodbye. It’s the longest-running live-action comedy currently on the air, a title that will pass to Abbott Elementary and Ghosts next season.
• 8:30 p.m.: (CBS): It was canceled earlier this season and closes out its run here.

Tuesday
• 8 and 9 p.m.: NCIS and NCIS: Sydney (CBS): So after tonight, we’re all free to commit naval crimes unimpeded until, like, late September or early October.

Wednesday
• Good Omens (Prime Video): After a series of allegations of truly gross behavior against creator Neil Gaiman, Prime rather quietly cut down a planned final season to a single, 90-minute finale. It debuts here, almost three years after the previous season.
• 8, 9 and 10 p.m.: Chicago Med, Fire and PD (NBC): This is arguably the strongest franchise in network TV now, drawing good-sized audiences week in and week out.
• 9:30 p.m.: America’s Culinary Cup (CBS): The not-exactly-Top Chef show hosted by Padma Lakshmi names its first winner.

Thursday
• 8 and 9 p.m.: Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU (NBC): Dick Wolf’s other NBC franchise (he’s also behind the Chicago shows) concludes season 25 (the mothership) and season 27 (SVU). If you’re counting, the two shows will have aired a combined 1,138 episodes after their finales. Assuming 42 minutes per episode, it would take a little over 33 days to watch them straight through.

Friday
• 8 p.m.: Celebrity Jeopardy! (ABC): After semifinal matches on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the last three players standing face off.

Sunday
• 7 p.m.: America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC) and 60 Minutes (CBS)
• 8 and 8:30 p.m.: Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers (Fox): Both shows have been renewed through the 2028-29 season, so they’ll be around a long time after this.

Monday
• Pop Culture Jeopardy! (Netflix): It moves from Prime Video and will run episodes every weekday through June 5, mimicking the game show’s regular schedule in syndication.
• Regular Show: The Lost Tapes (Cartoon Network): New episodes of the 2010s cult favorite.
• 9 p.m.: Tucci in Italy (Nat Geo): Stanley Tucci does more culinary exploring in Italy — nice work if you can get it.

Tuesday
• Devil May Cry (Netflix)
• 9 p.m.: U.S. Against the World: Four Years With the Men’s National Soccer Team (HBO/HBO Max): Spoiler: They haven’t been the best four years.

Wednesday
• Off Campus (Prime Video): It’s a romance series with hockey as a backdrop, based on a book series — but any Heated Rivalry comparisons end there. The show is set at a college (hence the title), and its central relationship is between a star player and a “hockey-hating music major.”

Thursday
• Nemesis (Netflix): Power creator Courtney Kemp’s first series for Netflix centers on the cat-and-mouse game between a master thief (Y’lan Noel) and a driven LAPD detective (Matthew Law).
• 9 p.m.: Welcome to Wrexham (FXX/Hulu): The new season will follow the Welsh soccer club’s quest for promotion to the Premier League.
• 9 p.m.: Fear Factor: 48 Hours of Fear (Fox): A two-part offshoot of the network’s Fear Factor reboot that concludes May 21.

Friday
• Dutton Ranch (Paramount+): Possibly the biggest premiere of the week is this one, a direct Yellowstone spinoff that follows Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip (Cole Hauser) as they make a new life in Texas and (naturally) come into conflict with some of their new neighbors.
• Berlin and the Lady With an Ermine (Netflix): An offshoot of Money Heist centered on the Berlin character, played by Pedro Alonso.
• Couples Therapy (Paramount+)
• Rivals (Hulu): The first half of the British drama’s second season streams today, with part two coming sometime later in the year.

(Any movies below that don’t have a network or streamer listed next to them are available for rental or purchase.)

Tuesday
• Project Hail Mary: It’s great, and it’s available on demand.
• Marty, Life Is Short (Netflix): A documentary about the life and career of Martin Short.
• The Punisher: One Last Kill (Disney+): Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) is back for, uh, one last kill I guess in this one-off special.
• 9 p.m.: The Mystery of Richard Simmons: A Diane Sawyer Special (ABC)

Wednesday
• 9 p.m.: The A List: 15 Stories from Asia and Pacific Diasporas (HBO/HBO Max): Sandra Oh, Kumail Nanjiani and Bowen Yang are among the people featured in this documentary.

Friday
• Lisa Ann Walter: It Was an Accident (Hulu): The Abbott Elementary star does her first comedy special

Sunday, May 17
• 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT: ACM Awards (Prime Video)

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